Coopering

Coopering means
to do the work of a cooper. A cooper makes or repairs casks,
which is a skill that takes many years to learn.

An apprenticeship would last four to five years, although
you would have a hard job becoming a coopers apprentice these
days. Apprentices usually started at the age of fourteen and
then worked as a cooper for the rest of there lives.

A cooper would work in a cooperage. In the cooperage the cooper
would use many different traditional tools including:

Traditional cask capacities

If the cooper was making a larger cask, like the 108 gallon
Butt, it would be difficult to hold the staves together by
hand. In these circumstances the cooper would use a windlass.
A windlass would have hemp ropes and would be operated by
hand.

Why use wood?

Oak casks breath, allowing an exchange between the air outside
and the contents. This results in some of the contents being
lost but this also allows the contents to mature. In the UK
whisky has to mature for at least three years.

Both the top and the bottom of a cask is called a head. The
heads are made from boards that have been dowelled together,
cut out with a bow saw and then shaved smooth.

Wood and furniture craft guides

You may find the wood and furniture guides via the craft guides a useful resource.

Wood craft exhibitors

The staves are created by cleaving from a tree trunk. A cooper
cleaves rather than saws the trunk in order too utilize the
ribs of strength that run out from the heart of the tree to
the bark. In order to make the staves liquid-proof the cooper
has to keep the medullary rays unbroken.

Coopering terms

Stave - the boards making up the sides of the caskBung hole - the hole used to both fill and empty the caskBilge - the bulge in the middle of the caskChime hoop - hoops at the heads of the caskQuarter hoop - the hoops between the Chime and Bulge hoopsBulge hoop - the central hoops after the Quarter hoopsRivet - used to attack the hoops to the caskHeads - both the top and the bottom of the caskMiddle - the middle section of the HeadCant - the section either side of the MiddleQuarter - the sections after the CantChime -the extensions of the staves beyond the headCroze - the cut where the heads are fittedStave joint - the joint between the staves